 |
|
 |
 |
11 July 2000
Ballot starts 17 July - Hold workplace meetings now
The Pay Campaign starts in earnest next week with ballot papers going out to members' home addresses from Monday 17 July onwards.
By now members should know:
- our claim is for 5% or £500 and £5 minimum rate
- the reasons why it is a fair and realistic claim
- the employers made a first and last offer of 2.5% (a pay cut with inflation) and will NOT negotiate on any improvement
- only industrial action will get the employers to move.
There will be information issued with the ballot paper, but it is important that workplace meetings take place to ensure members don't feel isolated.
Arrange workplace meetings NOW.
Branch officers will make all efforts to attend meetings where required.
Talk to your members now, and ask them to hold off filling in their ballot paper until your workplace meeting has taken place.
Make sure your members hear the arguments before they return their ballot.... so ask them not to vote until after the meeting.
This is the first of a series of briefings throughout the campaign.
This Briefing includes:
- A summary of the claim and the arguments for action (from the last UNISONNews)
- A copy of the full claim and evidence which was presented to the employers
- Ballot information.
Please use the briefing NOW
to campaign for a YES vote for action for a better offer.
Why we deserve it and they can afford it
The evidence is there to back UNISON's 2000 pay claim.
The new Earnings Survey, an independent review of pay trends, shows that Local Government workers are falling behind both the private sector and other areas of the public sector.
Pay increases since 1994 ran at an average of 23.5% while local government only got 16.2%.
This is made worse when you see that the retail price index rose 17.8% - we've been having pay cuts!
Even last year when we got an above inflation 3.3% (inflation was 1.6%), the average pay rise across the economy was 4.6% - so we still got less.
Finance and computer jobs, went up 10% while the Civil Service got 6.9%.
Men in local government get on average £31 a week less than men in the Scottish economy in general. Women get £10 less but are also likely to be paid less across the board.
Even more astonishing, the average male council worker in Scotland gets £17.50 a week less than his England/Wales counterpart and women £16 less. This cannot be justified.
So even 5% would not fully redress how far local government staff have fallen behind. UNISON cannot be accused of putting in an unrealistic claim.
And as for the £5 an hour 'living wage' minimum, well with a catering assistant in McDonalds able to get £5.90, a cleaner in Tescos £5.74 and a cook in Woolworths £6.50, we are hardly tipping the economy over with that claim.
Can they afford it?
The Scottish Executive is making additional resources available to councils. Government Supported Expenditure (GSE) is up 3.9%; Aggregated Expenditure Finance (AEF) is up 2.9% and Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) is up 3.5%.
After years of real cuts in local government expenditure we now believe our claim for 2000/2001 is affordable.
The claim addresses three main points:
- The need for a fair settlement. 5% is a modest claim.
- The need to address low morale and low pay. The £500 will help the lowest paid - 5% of low pay is a low increase.
- The £5 minimum wage will help address poverty in local government. That in turn will stimulate local communities.